At the beginning of this month, Exxon/Mobil announced its profits for 2007. Being a good-hearted, eternally trusting sort, the kind of guy who believed in the Easter bunny until he was old enough to drive, I had hoped that Exxon might have made a tidy, respectable profit in 2007. After all, with gasoline prices soaring, unemployment on the rise, a recession looming on the horizon, and people paying record prices for heating oil, one would hope that an oil company might be willing to sacrifice a little bit of profit in return for a productive economy and a contented public. Only the most self-important, short-sighted "corporate partner" would use the current situation to gouge the consumer, right?

Did I mention that I believed in Santa until I reached the age of 21?

Well, I was really, really, really wrong. In 2007, Exxon netted profits of $40.6 billion, an increase of a little more than a billion dollars over 2006's revenues. According to The Washington Post, that amounts to earnings of $4.6 million per hour. It is also the largest yearly profit ever reported by a publically-traded company. Ever.

For those with more money than sense: Mouse in the House

From time to time we'll feature products that seem to tip the scale between usefulness and wretched excess. Today's candidate-Mouse in the House. From CatDancerProducts, MITH is a small playhouse through which a mouse is electrically propelled on a track. The owner can set a timer for the mouse so it makes its twice-around circuit of the house at intervals during the day while they are at work, so that their cats can have some play during that down time. The mouse is non-toxic and built to withstand feline onslaught.

Mouse in the House sells for a mere $70, and replacement mice are available. Although the company doesn't state it, I'm confident the mice fit in a vegan diet, too.

$70 for a Mouse in the House? I think this might be the definition of disposable income.